Victor Wembanyama showed that he’s playoff ready after an injury by amassing 40 points and 13 rebounds as the host San Antonio Spurs pummeled the Dallas Mavericks 139-120 on Friday in the teams’ penultimate game of the regular season.
The Spurs (62-19) have won 14 of their past 15 games and will be the second seed in the Western Conference when the playoffs start on April 18. San Antonio’s 62 wins are its most since the 2015-16 season when it captured 67 games and are tied for the third most in franchise history.
Wembanyama added five assists and two blocked shots before leaving the game for good with 8:35 left to play in the fourth period with the Spurs owning a 120-100 lead. San Antonio cruised to the finish, stoking the margin to as many as 24 points to finish off a four-game season sweep of the Mavericks.
De’Aaron Fox added 18 points and 10 assists for the Spurs, with Keldon Johnson scoring 17, Harrison Barnes contributing 15, Julian Champagnie tallying 14, Dylan Harper racking up 13 and Carter Bryant producing 12 points.
Cooper Flagg led Dallas (25-56) with 33 points while Max Christie had 16, Khris Middleton scored 14, Ryan Nembhard and AJ Johnson hit for 13 each and John Poulakidas tallied 12 points. The Mavericks have long been eliminated from the postseason.
Wembanyama, back after missing a game and a half with a left rib contusion and needing to be on the court for at least 20 minutes to fulfill the 65-game requirement for league postseason awards, scored 11 of the Spurs’ initial 15 points. He finished the first period with 16 points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in leading San Antonio to a 37-26 advantage.
The Mavericks charged back in the second period, taking a 63-62 lead when Middleton canned a 3-pointer with 1:47 to play until halftime to cap a 15-2 run. Wembanyama then scored six of the half’s final eight points to allow San Antonio to carry a 68-65 advantage into the break.
Flagg led all scorers with 25 points before halftime while Christie added 13 for Dallas. Wembanyama’s 24 points paced the Spurs as all nine players that saw the court for San Antonio scored at least two points.
The Mavericks led 81-79 after Flagg’s layup with 7:55 to play in the third quarter before San Antonio responded with a 20-4 run over the ensuing five and 1/2 minutes to regain solid control of the game. The Spurs held a 108-93 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Knicks rout Raptors, wrap up East’s No. 3 seed
Jalen Brunson scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter as the New York Knicks clinched the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-95 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds while Mikal Bridges logged 13 points for New York (53-28), which has won seven straight home games and five games in a row overall. The Knicks have a 30-9 home mark this season.
Sandro Mamukelashvili produced 17 points and eight rebounds to lead Toronto (45-36), which fell into a tie with the Orlando Magic (45-36) for the sixth and final automatic playoff spot in the East. The Raptors hold the tiebreaker edge.
Brandon Ingram had 16 points and six assists for the Raptors. Ja’Kobe Walter went 4 of 7 from beyond the arc en route to 15 points, while Scottie Barnes amassed 15 points and five assists.
The Knicks drove out to a 14-3 lead, and except for a brief hiccup at the end of the first quarter, never looked back. The Raptors briefly took a 21-20 edge late in the first frame, but Jordan Clarkson, who had 10 points and four assists, gave New York a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the game.
Clarkson also had two baskets as part of a 10-0 Knicks run to start the second. The Raptors were held to 36 points in the first half.
Brunson effectively put the game away with a bevy of jump shots and layups, with a 3-pointer and a technical free throw mixed in for good measure, as part of his third-quarter surge.
It was his third straight game scoring 25 or more.
The reserves took over for much of the fourth, allowing New York’s Jose Alvrado to finish with 12 points and five rebounds. Landry Shamet and Ariel Hukporti added eight points each off the Knicks’ bench.
New York swept the five-game season series with Toronto, winning all of the contests by double digits.
The Knicks’ defense created 18 turnovers, which led to 27 points.